We are here to send a message that we are Macedonians, who speak the Macedonian language and come from Macedonia, said VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski, during the opening of the first Macedonian cultural center in Bulgaria today. The “Nikola Jonkov – Vapcarov” club, named after the poet killed by the Bulgarian authorities in 1942, was opened in Blagoevgrad.
Mickoski was warmly welcomed by the Macedonians from Blagoevgrad, while Bulgarian nationalists gathered further away from the club, and some of them tried to shout down the Macedonians.

This is the 21st century and the right to self determination should be respected and should be non-negotiable. Our right to self-determination as Macedonians is absolute and guaranteed by international acts, Mickoski said.

The Macedonian Government did not send any representatives to the event and President Pendarovski sent his chief of staff Mile Boshnajkovski – this was in sharp contrast to the high level Bulgarian delegation at the opening of the controversially named “Vanco Mihajlov” Bulgarian club in Bitola. Mickoski was accompanied by VMRO-DPMNE officials Dragan Kovacki and Rasela Mizrahi – the highest ranking Jewish official in Macedonia, while Levica party leader Dimitar Apasiev also was in Blagoevgrad.

When asked by the Bulgarian press about the Bulgarian minority in Macedonia, Mickoski pointed out that its rise followed the program of issuing Bulgarian passports to Macedonians eager to tap the European labour market. “Ask yourselves, why no Macedonians sought Bulgarian passports until Bulgaria joined the European Union”, Mickoski responded. He added that every minority in Macedonia has the right to self-determination, including the Bulgarians. “The matter here is why are Macedonians in Bulgaria not recognized”.